Celebrating Deepavali - Reasons, Traditions & Memoirs

Mathru devo bhava:
Pitha devo bhava:

Hello All ,

Happy diwali to all.

Diwali festival starts on Nov 7th.
Nov 7th - Triyothasi :1.Dhanvantri pooja , 2.Yama dharma raja pooja.
Nov 8th - Chathurthi -1.Naraga chathurthi,2. Deepavali,
Nov 9th - Amavasya - 1.Lakshmi kubera pooja,2. Kethara gowri vratham.

Dhanvantri pooja: On this day lord Dhanvantri got amrutham from the sea .He blesses us with good health.Lets pray him with this moola mantra slokam .

Slokam:
Om namo bhagavathe vasudevaya dhanvantreye amrutha kalassa hastaya sarva ammaya
vinasaya trilokya nadhaya sri maha vishnuve namaha:

On the same day night its a tradition to keep yama deepam and pray to lord yama dharma raja and light deepas.

Deepavali: People get up early morning b/w 4-5 and do Ganga snanam with gingely oil.

Procedure to apply oil and have Ganga snanam:

We need to take a cup or vessel fill with as much oil that is enough for every body in
the family ( do not use seperate cups for each person.All members of the family should use the same cup).This is to depict strength & unity in the family .
Before applying oil keep 7 dots with the oil in the thigh or fore arm and tell the slokam given below and join the dots as to make a line.Now apply oil all over the body and take a bath.Every body in the house can do this procedure.

Slokam to chant while keeping 7 dots and joining them:

Slokam:
Ashwatama bali vyasaha hanumancha vibheeshanaha
kripaha parasu ramascha sapthaithey siranjeevanaha

Meaning The 7 dots depicts 7 great chiranjeevis ( boon of everlasting longevity).
By doing this we get their blessings for good health and longevity.

It is believed that on diwali day:
lakshmi nivasam in gingelly oil
Ganga nivasam in hot water
Amritam sweets
Maha vishnu nivasam new clothes
Paramathma in deepam

Only on diwali day Ganga devi enters everyone's house to destroy their sins as she is so merciful.She knows that everyone is not fortunate to go to kasi.Lets praise her .
Then as usual we wear new clothes distribute sweets to near and dear .Most important we do lakshmi pooja in the evening.

Diwali is a festival of light. Lets all pray the light that removes the darkness of hatred, selfishness, jealously and bring light of faith, kindness, love & affection.

Nice information on the traditions of Diwali, Goldenangel!

came to know about who resides where and who comes to our house on that day, from your article, eventhough we do follow the same traditions.

sriniketan

DIWALI AND ITS MAHIMA THE COUNTRY OVER:

We all know that the ayippasi month of the tamil calendar brings this festival of light all over India, now let us see the reasons which are like the unity in diversity true to our Indian culture.
1.In the month of Oct-Nov, ayippasi tamil month the famous churning of the mountain by devas and asuras brought about wonder filled things beneficiary to this world and one among them was Mahalakshmi the goddess of wealth and health and purity. They enjoy this day as her birthday.

2.After some 12 years the pandavas returned home with joy, they were given a welcome with lights all over their land..

3.the famous mahavishnu in his avatharam of vamana retrieved mahalakshmi from mahabali's prison.

4.The famous vikramaditya had his coronation on this day.

5.rama returned after the great battle with ravana to ayodhya along with sita and lakshmana on this day.

6.The great mahaveer saint who attained the heavenly abode this day.

7.In Maharashtra the women pray for the longevity of husband and brothers on this day.

8.In Bengal they worship the kali on this day, it is a belief that she gave them darshan along with 64,000, yoginis a great salvation day.

9.In rajasthan, they consider the cat to be the incarnation of mahalakshmi and the cats are given the royals treatment that day.

10.In bihar men carry the rice harvest along with the grass over their head and go around their village to invoke the goddess to bless them.

11.In kumaon hills the houses have a sandal wood lakshmi on a copper plate, and she is bathed with sugarcane juice and the home front is decorated with lovely rangolis with rice powder mixed with colors.

12.The marathis from Maharashtra consider this sacred to play cards to loose which is supposed to bring them luck.

13.Gujarathis and Marwadis conduct pooja at 12 am in the night to invoke lakshmi on this day.

14.It is lucky to buy salt on this day as mahalakshmi is in it on this day, reason she came out of the sea on this day.

15.It is considered auspicious to take a dip before sunrise as Ganga flows all over Indian waters.
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Why do we have to have an oil bath on this day?

On this day the famous churning of manthara mountain with vasugi snake by the devas and asuras, came to a stand still, then our famous mahavishnu took a koorma avadaram [tortoise]and went down to help move the mountain, he found mahalakshmi on a lotus there.
When mahalakshmi went in search of narayana the til plants wanted to hide away from her, but in her search she stamped them, oil came out and whatever is being touched by the lord of wealth is supposed to bring in wealth.

[in the present day during these months if we notice our body heat is extreme due to the weather, pre- winter we tend to cover ourselves with warm clothing, all these rise the body heat and we suffer from innumerable problems like cold, aches and blurring eyes an oil bath cools the system].

while she marries narayana on this day she blesses the til to be good for human in every way. So to get her blessing we have an oil bath.
Source is from mangayar malar, but you can add your reason to enjoy here, from which ever region you are from India.. brought to u by sunkan

hi sunkan,

thanks for sharing this detailed info...

for me...reason..for the kids...nothing more....as simple as that...

Originally Posted by shanvy

hi sunkan,

thanks for sharing this detailed info...

for me...reason..for the kids...nothing more....as simple as that...

dear shanthi,
there is no festivity without children, i did not mean that here the cultural contribution i am asking like the vazhakkam of your state, or land..sunkan

dear golden angel
Thank you for the nice info.on deepavali.
girija shaji

Thanks sunkan for the wonderful info on Diwali

Thanks goldenangel for the information on Diwali.

prabha

Dear ILites

This thread is to share any good memories of Diwali.It may be memory of yesteryear diwali or ur diwali sweet adventure or the slight u got from ur neighbours for bursting crackers....any good memory on Diwali.We would love to hear from our beloved seniors..... Pour in your contributions.


Luv

Ridge

Please refer this thread for more info about Diwali festival.

Diwali - Festival of Lights

Happy Diwali / Deepavali to all of you and your family.